How many women desperately want to be mothers? How many are fully aware of the responsibility that comes with it? Since the egg is fertilized by the spermatozoon, a long road begins to travel, full of obligations, worries, responsibilities and attentions. From the first consultation with the doctor we begin to learn strange words that perhaps we had never heard and from that moment on we want to know everything about what our baby is going to be. There is a word that we can hear during the nine months of pregnancy and it is PERCENTILE. In statistics, the percentile is a measure that we can order when there are percentages from lowest to highest and many do not know how to calculate percentiles.
What we call “Percentile of a Fetus”?
“Percentile of a Fetus” these words are the scientific way of a doctor to explain to us if our fetus comes from the beginning without any anomaly, they are measurements of length and weight that allow us to know if the fetus is developing without any problem, these measurements are compared through a percentile graph and at the same time compared with fetuses or children of the same age, this being a frequent examination throughout the pregnancy.
We can have a fetus that is in the 90th percentile of length and in turn has a 2nd percentile of weight, it is likely that we are in the presence of a child who is underweight, perhaps due to nutritional problems, we can also see it the other way around, a child with a percentile of 25% length and 92% weight, here we can see the presence of overweight. This is however periodically checked by the doctor.
In a percentile graph we find weight values in grams on the left hand, weight values in pounds on the right hand and gestation time below, this helps us to correctly evaluate the percentile of our fetus, it will tell us if its size is consistent and its weight for its time.
Exams that should not be missed during pregnancy
There are many tests that allow us to know if our fetus will become a baby without any setbacks, blood tests, ultrasounds and the measurement of our belly in each consultation are important examinations that we must follow rigorously and with great attention. We must carefully observe our weight because our fetus feeds on us.
This percentile test helps us to recognize diseases or conditions that the fetus may be having and that we do not know how: IUGR This is when the fetus does not develop correctly and is below the percentile parameters. This condition is caused by a poor maternal diet, by being a smoker or a drinker, these things do not allow a good growth of the fetus, this can begin to appear after 16 weeks of gestation.
The importance of the Percentile for Feto-Fatal Syndrome
If you thought that the problems of coexistence were only seen when we opened our eyes at birth, when we shared a room with a brother, when we lived in the same house with another person or in the same office, you are wrong. In the womb, when there is more than one, the same thing also happens, from inside there we can already see two brothers fighting to prove who is the strongest. If these two beings share the same placenta, one will try to be more comfortable than the other, to feed more and incredibly to make themselves felt more than the other.
In this case, the percentile examination must be more rigorous and more frequent, since one of the two may present malnutrition and a feto-fetal syndrome, making one of the two fetuses ill and with the possibility of making the other fetus ill or of Otherwise, allowing a healthy fetus to live with a sick fetus for nine months, this when the sick fetus has a weight below a 10% percentile, causing a possible death from anemia. This syndrome occurs when both share the same bag.
Being overweight raises the percentile
Another disease that raises the percentile in terms of weight is preclancia (arterial hypertension), this is calculated using the Usher table. Like other special attentions, it is valued as one of the highest mortality rates in the fetus and mother.
The percentile exam helps us to help our fetus, to have a quality of life from within that allows it to become a good baby, prevents it from suffering from Macrosomia, these are the so-called macro fetuses that have a high percentile in terms of the size and weight, are not consistent with their gestation time and this can present great problems at birth, leading to a cesarean section or forced birth.
The percentile is used as a measurement comparison in almost everything, the percentile of amniotic fluid is measured (when it is very high it can be very dangerous, the normal percentile should be between 50 and 95), the percentile of length and weight of the fetus, the percentile of its cranial cavity, all this according to its gestation time.
Instructions to calculate the percentile of a Fetus
- Consult a Percentile Table that your doctor can provide you, the tables vary by country or region.
- Remember that in a Percentile Graph we find weight values in grams on the left hand, weight values in pounds on the right hand side, and gestation time below.
- Finally you can look for a Percentile Calculator on the Internet, very practical but you should only take them as a reference.
Amniotic Fluid Percentile
Amniotic fluid is that medium in which the fetus develops its nine months, this allows it to mature its lungs, breathe, have mobility and protects it from external problems. The amniotic fluid percentile is also calculated according to gestation time.
The amniotic fluid is calculated from ultrasounds, these are not precise but the amounts of fluids (bags) can be observed separately and calculated all together, thus giving an approximate percentile of the amniotic fluid. Also the amount of fluid that can be observed varies according to the position of the fetus.
Great attention is paid to the amounts of this liquid since if it drops, the fetus may present fetal distress, make meconium, stop breathing and important organs may stop working. If your gestation period allows you to go to an urgent caesarean section, this fetus can be saved, but the fetus and the mother can be in serious danger due to the presence of sepsis. This percentile is assessed as correct when there is a 10% percentile of bags, if the fluid drops to 8%, a possible induction of labor begins to be assessed and if it is below 5%, a caesarean section can be prepared, avoiding with this other complications.
The Percentile is still calculated after Delivery
We can then say that we are in the presence of a study, assessment and calculation that is present during nine months of our lives when we assume the responsibility of being mothers. Technological advances have allowed us to know everything about that sperm that fertilized our egg, that allowed us to create an embryo, which later became a fetus, that our food, concern and care allowed it to grow, develop and then become our baby.
Until the last moment, until 40 weeks if everything goes well and there are no complications that our baby arrives earlier, until that last moment the percentiles are being calculated, in fact, these calculations often help the doctor to assess the type of delivery what needs to be done.
Don’t think it’s over, our baby came into the world and incredibly, whether he was born by natural birth or by caesarean section, without cleaning or tucking him in, the first thing that is done in the living room as soon as they take the baby in their arms is the “PERCENTILE”.